Yes, they are cheap, but you get what you pay for , and that is crap.  So, what kind of ham should you get if you really want to have a good experience?

The kind of ham I recommend, if you don’t want to pay for the expensive honey glazed types of hams, or those ones that are dry curd or smoked, is at least gett a whole muscle ham and preferrably one with the bone in.

You can actually get a similar ham to a Farmer Johns Ham, the kind in the gold foil.

Here is a great guide I found at about.com

The trouble most people have when selecting a ham is not knowing what a ham really is. Technically, a ham is the entire back leg of a hog. Each pig has two. Of course, when most of us think of a ham, we think of a piece of meat that has a pinkish color and a sweet, smoky flavor. So, if the most basic definition of ham is a large pork roast the next definition is a type of preserved meat not necessarily precooked but usually preserved with salt or other preservatives. This is what leads to those kosher turkey hams.

The old fashioned way of preserving ham is in salt and cold smoking it. It is never cooked. The preservation process kills off the bacteria and changes the flavor and texture of the meat into what we think of as ham. These days however, many hams are pumped full of phosphates (preservatives) and salt water, and then cooked in a chamber filled with liquid smoke mist. The phosphates preserve the meat, and the salt water gives it a more traditional flavor and texture as well as increase the weight to hold down the cost per pound. This makes them appear more reasonably priced.

So what kind of ham do you buy? The first thing you have to decide on is the price. The more time spend making the ham the more it is going to cost. A country ham, which can be aged as much as, a year can set your pocket book way back. These traditional hams are hard to find at stores and generally have to be mail ordered. They are also heavy on salt and will need to be soaked and cooked before they can be eaten. The modern produced hams, on the other hand, can be picked up, sliced and served. Of course the best way to serve ham is warm. Grilling ham gives it the added smoky flavor and makes and excellent way to prepare ham no matter the type. Remember to grill large hams indirectly.

Next you should consider the size. Whole hams can come up to 20 pounds, which could leave you dealing with leftovers for weeks. Not a problem if you don’t mind a nearly endless supply of ham sandwiches, omelets, salads, etc. The general rule is to plan on 6 to 8 ounces of boneless ham per serving, or 8 to 12 ounces of bone in ham per serving. Hams can be frequently bought in sections. This is usually either the rounded, butt end or the lower shank end. The butt end is more difficult to carve because of the shape and position of the bone but is meatier. The shank end gives smaller pieces but is easier to carve. Of course you can always buy pre-sliced hams to make it easier on yourself, but plan on not storing it as long.

As always, if you have any questions, ask a butcher. That’s what they are there for. And, if you buy a packaged ham, read the label. Some hams, including some canned hams must be refrigerated. A good country ham that is well packaged doesn’t need to be refrigerated (the process for making these predates refrigeration) or cooked (it is eaten raw). So make sure you know what you have and how to treat it. Country hams in particular require a good deal of preparation. They are also, something of an acquired taste, so you might want to try a sampling before you spend a lot of money on one.

When you get a ham, they are actually cooked, and the really good ones are smoked. When you are ready to serve it, if you want a really awesome ham, you should glaze it. Basically, you put the ham int he oven, and while you reheat it, you glaze it and the glaze bakes on and makes a super yummy ham.

That’s it…how to make a ham or get the best baked ham is all about picking  a great product. In the next post, we’ll take a look at a really great ham glaze.

There really are tons of right answers. So you can slow roast prime rib, or quick roast prime rib. You can also rotisserie prime rib. But for those of you who are getting started and want to really get something simple going, and look like a hero, there are some simple things you can do when learning to cook prime rib.

First of all, you should plan to have about 8 ounces of raw weight per person you are having over. The second thing you want to make sure you do is have the butcher or supermarket do most of the work.

Now, you can get a bone in rib, or a boneless rib. If you are new to this, get a boneless rib. Make sure you pick a rib that has a small eye of fat in the middle of the rib. Take a look at the side cut and look for the white areas in the cut. You want a rib that has nice white “marbeling” but not a big spot of white. When roasted, that will just be fat.

I recommend choosing USDA choice grade for your prime rib. Most supermarkets will offer this grade now. It is usually a bit more expensive, but much more worth it.

Ask the butcher to make the fat cap 1/4 in thick.

When you get home, all you need to do is prep and roast.

Pre heat your oven to 450 degrees.

Take your rib, and rub it liberally with salt and fresh cracked pepper. If you are feeling adventureous, you can rub it with cajun seasoning, or chopped rosemary and garlic. But salt and pepper will work just as well.

Place it with the fat side facing up onto a roasting pan. When the oven is at 450, place the rib in the oven.

Let it roast for 40 minutes, and then drop the temperature to 300 degrees. (Farenheight).

Let the roast cook in the oven until you reach an internal temperature of 120 degrees. Yes!!!!Buy a good meat thermometer. If you want good results. Make the purchase.

Once you reach 120, remove and let it rest for 20 minutes. Enjoy!

My estimation is that a 10 lbs rib will be done in somewhere around 1 hour. Once you check the temp at 40 minutes, you will be able to guage time. Keep in mind, that once the rib hits 100 degrees, it will take only 5-10 minutes to get close to being done. The cooking speeds up from there.

One thing I do often is rub the rib with dijon mustard. Yummy!

So that’s it. Easy simple roast prime rib of beef. What else you want to see on the Christmas menu?

Leave me a comment. Prime Rib Roast coming up!

Lastly make sure that what ever kitchen knife sets you use, they are sharp and ready to slice.

There is alot of information out there about how to cook a turkey, and tons of people looking for turkey cooking tips and it can be confusing and hard to figure out what to do and who to trust.

The following is meant to be simple, easy and full proof. Im going to write it in bullet points so that it can be easy to follow.

1. Defrost the turkey in the refrigerator. Makes sure you start out 3-5 days in advance as it will take that long.

2. Do not stuff the turkey with stuffing. Bake the stuffing separately. It is safer and the turkey will cook faster.

3. 24 hours before baking, remove the turkey from the package, discard the innards, (save the neck and gizzards for gravy) towel off the turkey and dry it. Then leave it in the refreigerator so that the skin can get even dryer. Removing the moisture will allow the turkey to get a very even crust and golden color.

4. BUY A MEAT THERMOMETER! The little thing in the turkey that pops out is a piece of crap. It is so inaccurate, that you, if anything are ensured to have a nice dry turkey. When using the thermometer that you buy, make sure it is calibrated, and insert it in to the fleshy part of the turkey leg or breast, away from bone. You want a reading of 165 degrees.

5. When Roasting, Start with a very high temp, I like 450. I will roast it for 30 minutes at that temperature, then drop it to 350 for the duration of roasting. The high temp helps get the turkey nice and golden.

6. Throw a few carrot pieces, celery, onions, bayleaf, and parsley stems into the cavity when roasting, it will help add flavor.

7. When you are about to roast the turkey, slide pieces of butter underneath the breast skin, and rub butter or your favorite oil all over the skin, This will make things nice and brown when roasted.

8. Seasoning is so important. liberally season the cavity and skin with salt and fresh cracked pepper.

Basically, thats all there is to how to cook a turkey. These Turkey cooking tips will make your Thanksgiving Turkey the best this year. When you want to get adventurous, you can start to experiment with different spice rubs, aromatics in the thanksgiving turkey, then progress to frying the turkey or even smoking it. But if you are a new turkey beginner, this is a good place to start.

Afterall, when you are looking for how to cook a turkey, what you want is something that is nice and moist, with crisp skin. All you thanksgiving turkey beginners, give it a whirl.

Someone the other day asked if they needed or could do it in a crock pot trio and I told them all you need is an oven…And better yet, you don’t need rival crock pot replacement parts either!

Any questions on how to cook a turkey, leave a comment and I will get back to you asap!